How to Identify the Only Two Venomous Snakes in the Hudson Valley

 Interesting article

 

Sweet Sue’s is open

 Finally, it has reopened. For now, only a standup and takeout area, soon the dining room, too. Looks good. A work in progress. Nice to have it back.

Another snowstorm

 It has been a rough winter, so far. On Friday 2/25/2022, over half a foot of snow fell in our environs. The Daily Freeman published some photos:

Phoenicia: Movie-Worthy Mountain Getaway

 Story in Upstater.com on July 19, 2021.

When he wasn’t slugging homers, Babe Ruth could be found at the Sportsman’s Bar on Main Street, slugging beers. Alcohol also brought the notorious gangster Dutch Schultz to Phoenicia, where he lived and set up stills during Prohibition. Legend has it that shortly before being gunned down in Newark by rival gangsters, Schultz buried millions of dollars in a safe by the Phoenicia railroad tracks. Or under two pine trees. Or under a skull shaped rock by the banks of the Esopus. Ok, look, there’s a lot of legends floating around about where exactly Schultz buried his loot, probably none of which are true. But that hasn’t stopped treasure hunters from continuing to show up in the Phoenicia Library on Main Street to comb through old maps, looking for clues.

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Is Dutch Schultz’s Treasure Chest buried in Phoenicia?

 A story from the renowned Yonkers Times discusses Dutch Schultz, famed beer meister and smuggler, and his missing treasure chest. No one really knows where he buried a 2 foot by 3 foot treasure chest filled with gold, diamonds, cash and bonds as a getaway bundle of funds if he had to leave town at a moments notice. That value of the chest and it contents is now estimated between $50 Million-$150 Million. Dutch was gunned down in 1933. Thus, no one really knows where the loot is.

The long held tale was that Schultz buried the chest in the Catskills, in Phoenicia NY, a town that he spent time with. The PBS documentary mentions Phoenicia and a house in Bronxville NY, on the campus of Concordia College, as two other possible locations. 

 Tantalizing.

 

Brewery in Hudson Valley 'Has Some of the Best Eats' in New York

 An article from The Hudson Valley Post:

Only In Your State gave a glowing review to Woodstock Brewing in Phoenicia. Witt Wells says the brewery at 5581 NY-28 in Phoenicia "has some of the best eats" in New York State.

Rappel tower on 214 comes down

 Daily Freeman story, from 20 August 2020:

John Valek, a roofer out of Phoenicia, N.Y., continues his work at dismantling the rappel tower at the corner of Mount Tremper Avenue and Route 214 in Phoenicia, on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020. The tower, which is owned by local Shandaken judge Tom Crucet, was operated by Crucet since 1985 when he built it. Since then it has been used for military training, scouts and other groups for outdoor recreation. At 75, Crucet decided to stop using the tower and dismantle it for safety. Some of the boards will be repurposed in a barn. 

8/22/2020:

9/4/2020:

All photos: SW

Phoenicia Eagle

Visiting Phoenicia, on an early May day. This eagle had once stood outside Grand Central Station in Manhattan.

No water shortage here, thanks to an atmospheric river

From a  story dated 24 July 2018 found on the website NewYorkUpstate.com:

 Almost 7 inches of rain fell Monday in the Catskills as a rainy week kicked off in Upstate New York.

A weather observer in Phoenicia, in Ulster County, measured 6.68 inches of rain, according to National Weather Service reports. That was the highest of more than 200 Upstate locations reported to the weather service.

More than 5 inches fell in neighboring Greene County as thunderstorms dumped torrential rain Monday. Farther to the north, Albany and Fulton counties had reports of more than 4 inches. 

The "atmospheric river" of Atlantic Ocean moisture was funneled through eastern New York and parts of the Southern Tier Monday. Much of Western New York and the North County got a half-inch or less.

Shandaken seeks NY state grant for Phoenicia Water District

Story from the Daily Freeman 31 July 2018:

The town is seeking a $750,000 grant from the state Office of Community Renewal to address longstanding problems that have prevented the Phoenicia Water District from working efficiently.

The application was submitted last week.

“We’ve run into some issues during the environmental review,” Shandaken Supervisor Robert Stanley said. “Doing an archeological survey, we found some bedrock, which may need to be blasted. We also ran into some issues with the water line crossing the Woodland Valley bridge, so we had to retract the previous grant and close that one out.”


The additional work has resulted in the town seeking nearly $300,000 more than the amount of a grant awarded nearly three years ago.

Rusticalia

I didn't even know it was a word. That's a beautiful feature of our English language — especially the American vintage, I'd say: the invention of words. Some of those words still give me trouble (thru instead of through just does not work for me, although it is easier to figure out how to pronounce). But, there it is: rusticalia.

I found rusticalia in a story in Chronogram about funky clothing stores in the Hudson Valley: Vintage Clothing Stores in the Hudson Valley  Your Guide to Rockin' Retro Threads Upstate.

Mystery Spot Antiques: 72 Main Street, Phoenicia, NY 12464.

Its Instagram page describes it as: The Catskills' shrine to clutter. Seven rms packed w/ vintage clothing, vinyl, oddities & Rusticalia.

Phoenix, NY?

In an article Tanneries hurt the environment in the 1800s, but the Catskills eventually benefited, published in the website Hudonvalleyone.com, Violet Snow discusses the work of Paul Misko, who researches and makes presentations on our corner of the Catskills. It makes for interesting reading, including this tidbit:

An avid hiker since childhood, Misko has researched the remnants of human presence he often stumbles across in the woods. He explains how Phoenicia received its name, based, as many town residents know, on the Phoenix Tannery, once a mainstay of the local economy. Not all of us have heard that the tannery’s name came from the rapid rebuilding of the structure when it burned down in 1839, soon after it was first constructed. The town was called Phoenix until the postal service was getting established. Because there was already another Phoenix, New York, local residents picked the new name, hearkening back to the ancient Mediterranean culture.

Woodstock Brewing opens at Phoenicia Plaza

Story on Hudson Valley One from 14 January 2018.

Parabolic, Between Two Points, Permanent Midnight, Rhetoric, and Entropy are the heady names of the five beers, brewed on-site, that appeared on the taproom chalkboard at Woodstock Brewing on opening day, January 5. Despite its name, the microbrewery is located just east of Phoenicia on Route 28 at the Phoenicia Plaza, which is finally filled up after a fire damaged the stores two years ago.

website: Woodstock Brewing.
Facebook page: Woodstock Brewing

map location:

Phillipe Petit at Phoenicia Library benefit

On Saturday 11 November 2017 the Phoenicia Library held a fundraiser. First, appetizers and drinks were served in the Library; after, we all repaired to the Phoenicia Playhouse (formerly STS) to view the film Man on Wire, the story of Phillipe Petit walking on a cable between the Towers of the World Trade Center on the morning of August 7, 1974. After the film, Monsieur Petit answered questions for half an hour.

Shandaken parks benefit from grant

A story in the Daily Freeman from 8 June 2017 Shandaken town parks to benefit from NY state grant

Town parks are getting $12,000 worth of upgrades this summer thanks to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The money is part of a $28,450 Smart Growth grant the state gave Shandaken last year. Besides park improvements, the money is being spent on solar-powered lighting, landscaping for town signs and maps in parks that show the locations and amenities of other parks in the town.

The $12,000 will be spread across all of the parks in Shandaken, according to town Supervisor Rob Stanley: Smith Park in the hamlet of Pine Hill will get a moon rock climber; Big Indian Park will get six new picnic tables, a park bench and a mini-disc golf set; Parish Field in Phoenicia will get a chipmunk spring jumper; and Glenbrook Park is to get a new gym climber.

Stanley said the new picnic tables and benches will be made of steel with a plastic coating.

Phoenicia top-rated tourism spot

If you’ve got plans this summer to vacation in the queenly Cape May, N.J., or some other resort community in the Northeast, consider scrapping them. An even better destination is right here in Ulster County, according to Curbed New York, a real-estate and travel blog. Editors recently ranked Phoenicia, a hamlet in the town of Shandaken, as the No. 1 destination outside of New York City. The bohemian mountain community not only beat out the internationally known Victorian seaside resort, but Mystic, Conn., a historic seafaring village known widely for its tourism appeal.

Bohemian?

Story from Hudson Valley News Network on 6 June 2017: Phoenicia Ranked No. 1 as Tourist Spot

Shandaken pauses review of Catskill Mountain Railroad request

The town of Shandaken Planning Board has taken a step back from its review of the Catskill Mountain Railroad’s request for a permit to store equipment on the company’s property in Phoenicia, in part because such storage might not be allowed.

Board members say they want to talk with their lawyer about an opinion he recently issued on the matter.

In a May 1 letter, attorney Richard Olson told the Planning Board it could not act on the railroad’s application because there is a notice of violation regarding the site that must be cleared up first. Olson also said the permit the railroad is seeking does not exist.

From a story in the Daily Freeman on 16 May 2017

Shandaken hits pause button in review of Catskill Mountain Railroad’s train storage request

Catskill Mountain Railroad cited for keeping trains and related items on Phoenicia property

A story from The Daily Freeman.

The town of Shandaken has issued a Notice of Violation to the Catskill Mountain Railroad for placing trains and related equipment on the railroad’s property in the hamlet of Phoenicia

Microbrewery in Phoenicia

A Daily Freeman story on 4 February 2017 reported Proposed micro-brewery at Phoenicia Plaza faces Shandaken Planning Board review. The location is in Phoenicia Plaza, on Route 28, near the Phoenicia Diner.

Woodstock resident Rick Shobin has his eye on the largest space available at the Phoenicia Plaza on state Route 28 just east of the Phoenicia Diner. Shobin has been talking to planners, most recently as early January, when he laid out his plans. A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the Town Hall on Route 28 in Allaben.

A story on 15 February 2017 reports Final approval of micro brewery in Shandaken waits on input from NYC environmental department.

The town Planning Board has given conditional approval for a micro brewery to operate in the Phoenicia Plaza on state Route 28, but the board’s chairman says he cannot certify the approval until the board receives input from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

The property is in the city’s Catskills watershed, and because the business is to produce a significant amount of wastewater that will need to be hauled away, the department’s opinion is necessary.

The proposal appears to be noncontroversial at the town level. No opposition to it was voiced at a Feb. 8 public hearing, and Planning Board Chairman Don Brewer said last week that the site plan appears to be in order.


But Brewer noted the lack of New York City’s input, and he asked project architect John Wasylyk, of North Engineers and Design Associates, when it can be expected.

Catskill Mountain Railroad moves train cars onto Phoenicia site despite lacking approval to do so

Story from the Daily Freeman on January 23 2017.